It was in the early 60s & I was in my early teens. Some family friends dropped by on the way to a "snow trip" & offered to take me. They didn't mention sking & I suppose my folks assumed we'd be sledding/tubing. My parents let me go & the next thing I know I'm at a ski hill. The friends helped get geared up (leather boots, cable bindings, etc) and get on the snow. They tried to give me pointers on skiing but I had no idea what they were talking about and was absolutely cluess on skis. But I had a ton of fun anyway. I watched a lot of skiers that day & decided then and there I loved skiing. I just fell in love with the idea of being on a beautiful snowy mountain & flying around the terrain on skis. In retrospect, I think I felt the sport offered a higher sense of freedom than any other sport I'd experienced. That is, when I was a kid, my folks kind of pushed me into all the major sports (football, basketball, baseball, etc.). I liked them OK, but those sports are pretty regimented. Skiing became *my* sport because of the sense of freedom I got from it - I could do it completely on my own terms.

When I was in high school, one Thursday afternoon at the 2 PM school "assembly", some misguided teacher, instead of the usual scare-movie about the evils of smoking, drinking and driving, or (I wish) sex showed a Warren Miller flick starring Stein Ericksen. Can you imagine the impact the image of that Norse God with perfect teeth, floating through powdery snow as if on wings had on an awkward, dorky, late-blooming, testosterone-crazed 15-year-old mind? I've often wondered how many lives of budding doctors, scientists, lawyers, captains of industry were derailed to become ski-bums that day? Two weeks later I took my first ski lesson.

I'd started bugging my folks for ski gear way back in the early 70s when we lived in DC. After moving to Minnesota in late 72 I was messing around with garage sale gear out on farm hills at age 8. Then, a couple years later THIS happened and I cranked up the nonstop nagging to get access to lift served skiing and lessons.

And this.

The result was a Christmas Break ski school week of full day lessons, ski club in Jr High, and skiing on the freestyle team and working/teacing at the resort in high school.

Nooooo, don't say that! Haven't had the chance to get to Okemo yet this season. I'm hoping this epic NE snow season will allow for a good base to remain until at least early April, when I can get there over the kid's Easter break.